Conventionally, such a printing apparatus has been known widely that forms an image such as a photograph of face and character information on a printing medium such as a plastic card. Such a printing apparatus uses an indirect printing scheme for forming an image (mirror image) on a transfer film (intermediate transfer medium) with a thermal head via an ink ribbon, and next transferring the image formed on the transfer film to the printing medium.
In this type of printing apparatus, known is a technique for forming a YMC image in a first region of the transfer film and an invisible image (UV image) visualized by irradiation of a visualization light beam in a second region different from the first region, and transferring onto a card in the order of the YMC image and the invisible image (for example, see Patent Document 1).
Further, also known is another technique for layering a plurality of protective layers on the same surface of the printing medium to improve wear resistance (for example, see Patent Document 2).